The present invention relates to an extractor system, especially for exhaust gases from a motor vehicle, comprising an extractor channel with a carriage, which is arranged to connect the extractor channel to a hose and which is guided along the extractor channel and drawn by the vehicle from a start position to an end position, which hose can be connected to the exhaust pipe of the vehicle and can be detached therefrom at the end position, where the carriage can be retained by means of a catch device, which can be released by a drive device, which is additionally arranged to manoeuvre the hose to a rest position in connection with the carriage, which, with the catch device released, can be returned to the start position via a flexible element connected to the drive device.
Extractor systems of this type are well known in industry and are generally used in assembly plants, vehicle inspection centres and the like for sucking out and collecting exhaust gases, especially from vehicles as they are moved from one end of the premises to another. In a known extractor system of this type, which is described in Swedish Patent 9600624-2, with the same Applicant as the present patent application, the drive device comprises an endless flexible element which, via pulley wheels, is arranged to run freely through the carriage and in two directions between the start position and end position of the carriage. A drive member can be joined to the endless element by means of a coupling member in order to drive the element. The hose can be drawn up to its rest position via a separate cable, and a drum supported by the carriage and used for winding up the cable has members for driving the drum by means of the endless element. At the end position, a catch member is provided for the carriage and is arranged to release the latter when the hose is in its rest position, at the same time as the drum, via the member for rotating it, is locked by means of a catch mechanism actuated by the cable, as a result of which the endless element brings the carriage to the start position.
Although the known extractor system has a single drive source for driving the endless element, a separate lifting cable with a special drive mechanism is needed for the hose. The carriage is therefore provided with the rotatable drum for winding up the lifting cable, and a pair of pulley wheels for driving the drum in rotation by means of the endless element, which for this purpose runs round the pair of pulley wheels. The endless element must extend through an adjusting device, with which the distance between some of the pulley wheels can be varied.
It is therefore relatively difficult to install and adapt this system, for example when changing the lifting cable or endless element, and poor routing of the latter can lead to the element coming out of engagement with the pulley wheels. This solution therefore entails quite substantial costs, both for installation and for maintenance.
It is an object of the invention, therefore, to provide an extractor system, of the type set out in the introduction, in a simpler and more reliable way than before, which system comprises a common drive device for moving the carriage and for drawing the hose up to a rest position. This is made possible by the fact that the drive device has a which located at the start position for winding up the element, which extends through recesses in the carriage to an attachment point on a predetermined part of the hose, which via the element can be drawn up to the rest position and can be anchored to the carriage by means of a coupling device acting on the catch device.
Developments and refinements as well as additional features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the dependent patent claims and from the following description.